Chapter 114: Uninvited Companions

There was no room for dissatisfaction—Ji Yao’s spiritual power could only manage so much. If someone else took over, able to fully lay out the entire formation and withstand the first wave of attack, it would likely collapse on its own.

Because Ji Yao had, in a moment of inattention, engraved all the formations she had grasped into the array, the starting point was set too high, forcing the Star Chart to upgrade toward a treasured artifact level.

Thus, when the Star Chart finally took shape, it was already a first-grade treasure. With her Foundation Establishment early-stage cultivation, it was barely enough to control the artifact. Although Ji Yao’s dantian held more refined spiritual power than an ordinary cultivator, it still couldn’t be maintained for long.

Had she possessed Foundation Establishment late-stage cultivation, Ji Yao could have easily withstood three full-strength attacks from Mu Baiyun using this formation.

Therefore, unlike Mo Daoyan and Mu Baiyun’s disapproval, Ji Yao felt quite at ease.

After taking a Spirit Concentration Pill, Ji Yao’s spiritual power autonomously recovered a little. She then sat down cross-legged on the spot to meditate and restore her energy.

Seeing this, Mu Baiyun released his supportive grip, stepped aside, and lowered his head silently.

Once she was able to move freely again, Ji Yao excused herself from Mo Daoyan and Mu Baiyun, returned to her quarters, entered her spatial realm, and set up a Spirit Gathering Formation to accelerate the recovery of her dantian’s spiritual power.

Although the recovery was not as strenuous as it was during her initial Foundation Establishment, it was still somewhat slower than that of ordinary people.

When she had fully recovered, Ji Yao sent messages separately to Ling Ru and a few acquaintances, and early the next morning, she descended the mountain, preparing to head northwest.

Unexpectedly, just as she reached the Xuanjian city gate, she saw a red figure standing there and smiled helplessly.

“When did you get here? How come you’re even earlier than me? Are you here to see me off?”

Standing before Ling Ru, Ji Yao teased, but she knew from her expression that Ling Ru was clearly not here to bid farewell.

Ling Ru tapped Ji Yao’s shoulder with the flying sword she held, dissatisfied. “You decided to go traveling a long time ago but only told me on the last day. Who are you trying to keep it from?”

Ji Yao rubbed her nose. “I just finished my secluded cultivation; I wanted to stretch my legs and get some fresh air!”

“Is that so?” Ling Ru dragged the final syllable out, clearly unconvinced, scrutinizing Ji Yao from head to toe.

“I don’t buy it! Don’t think I don’t know that during your Qi Refinement stage, you had even longer periods of seclusion. But I never heard you say you went on any sect missions during those times.”

Ling Ru narrowed her eyes and smiled. “With your lazy nature, if there’s no pressing matter, you’d rather not leave at all. Now you’re so eager to head out, I don’t believe you have no purpose.”

Ji Yao couldn’t tell whether to be glad someone understood her or regret that her homebody reputation was too well-known.

“If I tell you, will you turn back now?”

“Of course not!” Ling Ru linked her arm through Ji Yao’s and pulled her along without giving her a chance to refuse.

“Oh dear, it’s getting late. Let’s hurry. If we’re too late, we might have to camp out in the wild tonight.”

“You don’t even know where I’m going, yet you’re worried about where to sleep? I feel like it’s you who’s going on a journey, not me,” Ji Yao said, reluctantly moving forward, showing no sign of eagerness to travel.

Ling Ru didn’t slow down, dragging Ji Yao into Xuanjian City. “We can talk on the way. For now, come with me to buy some supplies.”

“Wait, you were waiting at the city gate this early? Aren’t you prepared yet?” Ji Yao was no longer just helpless but speechless.

Ling Ru rolled her eyes at Ji Yao. “I was just afraid you’d sneak away once you got into the city. Come on, let’s go!”

By the time Ji Yao and Ling Ru emerged from the west gate, an hour had passed, far later than Ji Yao’s original departure time. Now, speeding up was absolutely necessary.

Once they stepped beyond Xuanjian City’s no-fly zone, Ji Yao summoned the core boat Mu Baiyun had given her. Upon activating her spiritual power, the core boat expanded into the size of a regular black canopy boat, intricately carved with array talismans resembling delicate floral engravings all over its hull.

The flying boat hovered in an open space before them. Ji Yao stepped aboard first, then said to Ling Ru, “If you don’t want to pilot the flying boat later, you’ll have to cover the spiritual stones it consumes.”

Ling Ru jumped up and muttered, “So stingy!”

The two entered the seemingly small black canopy, which revealed its true spaciousness inside. The cabin was arrayed with spatial formations; it wouldn’t feel cramped even with two more passengers.

Ji Yao approached the hexagonal control panel in the center of the cabin and summoned it from the floor. The control console rose to about waist height and stopped.

At its center was a transparent crystal dome. Running her hand over it caused six recessed slots to appear around the dome, designed to hold spiritual stones.

If they didn’t want to use spiritual stones as power, they could simply place their hands on the dome and channel their own spiritual power into it to energize the flying boat.

Ji Yao liked this design very much, especially now, when her spiritual power recovered more slowly than others’. It was better not to waste energy unless necessary, just in case of unexpected emergencies.

Now that Ling Ru was accompanying her, Ji Yao was happy to be a hands-off passenger. She provided a comfortable mode of travel and naturally didn’t want to pay for spiritual stones herself—after all, Ling Ru insisted on joining her on this journey!

Ling Ru didn’t want to keep her hand on the control panel the whole way either, so she resigned herself to taking out six medium-grade spiritual stones and placing them in the slots.

Ji Yao teased with a smile, “You’re really generous, boss. Just sit back and enjoy the ride from here on.”

Ling Ru scowled, gave Ji Yao another eye roll, and lazily sat against the cabin wall.

Ji Yao didn’t mind and returned a perfect eight-toothed smile. She then sent her divine sense into the dome, set their course, and activated the flying boat.

The flying boat came with protective formations that enveloped it, allowing it to smoothly ascend into the sky and break through the clouds.

Ji Yao thought the flying boat was perfect in every way—except for its voracious spiritual stone consumption. It was truly a luxury for the wealthy.

With six medium-grade spiritual stones installed and the protective shield active, maintaining full speed would consume the stones in about half a day, turning them into worthless stones.

Six medium-grade spiritual stones equaled over six hundred lower-grade ones. Ji Yao herself had barely more than six hundred medium-grade spiritual stones on her at full count—such expenditure was unsustainable.

So Ji Yao decided that when not pressed for time, she would travel on foot or use her flying sword, reserving the stone-guzzling flying boat for times when she had sponsorship.

The boat sped northwest. Just as the last medium-grade spiritual stone in the control panel was about to be depleted, the two inside suddenly felt the boat dip downward.

It wasn’t due to lack of spiritual stones or a controlled descent, but because something heavy had struck the formation outside the boat, forcing the remaining energy of the stone into the protective array.

The flying boat, suspended midair, was pressed down continuously by an external force striking its protective array.